A 14-year-old Birmingham middle school student was arrested this afternoon after he was found with a shotgun on the school campus.

The teen had hidden the shotgun in the ceiling of a bathroom when he arrived at Ossie Ware Mitchell Middle School and had returned to get it late in the school day, said Michaelle Chapman, spokeswoman for Birmingham city schools. He had the weapon inside the leg of his pants when he was caught.

Another student told school officials about the gun, Chapman said, and the student allowed the principal to search him and confiscate the weapon.

The gun wasn't loaded, officials said, and the student didn't have any ammunition with him. The student told school officials he was going to sell the shotgun to an adult and had planned to hide it behind the school. His mother brought him to school this morning, however, and he was unable to follow through with his original plan, Chapman said.

The school was briefly placed on lockdown while the building and lockers were searched. No other weapons were found.

The student was taken by police to juvenile detention. He also is charged with a Class III violation of the code of student conduct. He is suspended pending a school hearing, and faces possible expulsion.